“And you will sit at the curb while Angela and I have lunch?”
He nodded and looked at his watch, then he snagged her hand and tickled her palm with his fingertips before she could rub at her tingling nose again.
“What’s on your mind, Sacha?”
She took his arm and led him out into the sunshine, away from Anton and the others. “I, er, wanted to ask you something but am hesitant because I am afraid it will upset you.”
“Regarding what?” he asked curiously.
“Lunch.”
“Just ask.”
She nodded and swallowed her trepidation. And didn’t it just figure a cloud would pass in front of the sun right at that exact moment as if foreshadowing a coming storm? “I wanted to call Justin to see if he is available to meet Angela and me,” she rushed out. “I miss him,” she added quickly, then kept on when a dark blanket fell over Alekzander’s features. “He is a wonderful man, and if you would just give him a chance, I am sure you would like him. He has been a good friend to me, Alekzander, and I have no intention of cutting him out of my life.”
“Really.”
“Yes.”
“You ever meet any of his boyfriends?”
The disparaging tone he used had her brow tightening. “He does not have boyfriends,” she defended. “He is not a philanderer. If he were with someone, he would consider that man his partner. Have you met all of Tegan’s boyfriends?”
His head slowly swiveled her way. He’d been watching Anton as he talked to Lekzi. All the men seemed to enjoy her. “Why would you bring Tegan into this?”
“Because I think you feel threatened by Justin.” Her fault. “The same way I felt when I first met Tegan, and now Nika, and Sydney, too, but only for a short time. I have no choice but to watch those beautiful women touch you and kiss you and tell you their secrets.” The insecurities she’d been battling every time the girls came around rushed out in a tumble of words. Not that she’d seen Tegan since she’d been back. “I can tell you, I am glad you and Eva are related. If not, I would find it tough to watch you stand in the corner and have your intent conversations with your heads almost touching as you look at your cell phones. I see you interacting with them with such familiarity, and I cannot help but remember how you held that woman in your office. As if you had done the same many times before. You appeared very comfortable with her.”
She stepped away from him, no longer wanting him to touch her. She felt silly voicing this when she now knew why he’d been holding that woman so convincingly. But she supposed sounding like a harpy was better than burying her anxiety and letting it become something more than what it actually was.
“Why should you not have to suffer just a little?” she muttered as she tightened her wrap around her shoulders. “I will not sit in his lap, for goodness sake. Like that woman did in yours,” she added pettily. “If you were nicer to him, Justin would probably prefer to have lunch with you rather than me, so I do not know why this should be a problem.”
She finally looked up, exasperated because he still hadn’t said anything.
He was regarding her with a small smile playing around his mouth. With lazy movements, he came to her and took the corners of her wrap. He twisted them once around his fist and used the hold to draw her in until their chests were touching. His lips were cool where he pressed them to the top of her cheekbone, leaving them there while he spoke.
“I am sorry I created that sense of mistrust in you, but would be sorrier if you hadn’t led me to believe you were sharing your friend’s bed. I would feel extra sorry if I wasn’t so goddamn jealous that he’s known my daughter her whole life while I can count on my fingers the days since I met her. And that remorse would be genuine if the fucking idiot hadn’t played along, relishing the torture he was inflicting by letting me believe he was fucking my woman.”
She was thoroughly kissed before he brought her over and bundled her into the car.
Proving he could be reasonable, despite his Mine Complex, Alekzander gave in and Sacha called Justin. She ended up having a delightful lunch with her two best friends and a happily mauled Lekzi. But no matter how many times she texted and asked Alekzander to join them, he refused, claiming he was in the middle of a call. She wouldn’t let him get away with that next time.
And it was trivial little matters like those that peppered the days that followed as a comfortable routine was established. There was an underlying mutual distrust between them that seem to fade little by little with each veiled comment or snooty remark they tossed at each other. Alekzander found her under-the-breath digs amusing, but it was his that were funny because he’d taken to slipping zingers into conversations he had with Lekzi that Sacha couldn’t help but overhear.
But the humor surrounding their issues didn’t change the fact that they had them and they would have to be dealt with at some point.
The only time all pretense between them fell away and Sacha revealed how completely she’d surrendered to her Russian was when they were in bed. There was nowhere for her hide then. She couldn’t pretend she was anything but his.
The thing that made that more bearable than humiliating was with every touch, every whispered word and scorching kiss, every climax they shared, Alekzander never once tried to pretend he was anything but hers.
♦ ♦ ♦
“It’s funny how once they reach a certain age, they just aren’t that into you anymore. Seriously, enjoy it when it comes, girls, because the adoration doesn’t last.”
Sydney rested the knife she was using to cut a cantaloupe with and looked up at the ceiling. “I’m afraid to voice this, but, I think I hear a clock ticking.” She brought her head to rights and looked at them, waiting for a reaction.
Sacha, who could see her through the reflection in the kitchen window, turned from where snow was pelting the glass from the force of the winds. She looked at the clock on the far wall. She’d never heard it tick, she thought with a frown as she placed the basket of bread in the center of the table and went back to finish chopping the salad.
“It’s the fumes she’s putting off,” Nika said, pointing her handful of cutlery at Eva. “They’re affecting everyone. Vincente is driving me crazy.”
“Gabriel said he was dead set against having kids until you came along.” Eva placed the last of the glasses around the table and went back to claim the chair in front of Lekzi, who was in her highchair playing more with her small squares of cheese than eating them. “Has he told you he only wants a boy?”
Nika’s brows pinched together. “No. He didn’t have to tell me that. I’ve had pregnancy nightmares where I go for an ultrasound, and the doctor tells me I’m having triplets; all girls. Can you imagine?” She sifted her fingers through Lekzi’s hair on her way by. “Are you really thinking of having another one?” she asked Sydney.
“Maksim and I haven’t talked about it yet, but I’m seriously considering bringing it up the next time he seems receptive. Or we could just find Jak a woman to knock up, and he can give me back the two children I already have.”
Eva came over and put a few pieces of banana on a plate to bring back to the baby. “Gabriel said he hasn’t seen Jak so normal since he came back from Afghanistan. He says being around the kids is doing his veteran a world of good.”
“Is there anything your husband doesn’t talk to you about?” Nika grumped as she walked by with two pitchers of ice water.
“Yes. Plenty.”
“Speaking of talking,” Sydney said as she sidled up next to Sacha and bumped hips with her. “The girls and I are dying to stick our noses into your business.” She pulled over the colorful fruit tray she was preparing and continued with her work; slicing strawberries now.
“Sydney…” Eva turned from the quiet conversation she’d been having with Lekzi.
At the same time, Nika, who’d taken up her spoons and knives again, murmured, “She’s in a good mood. I don’t think now’s the time…”
The Australian gaped at
them. “Weren’t you the ones who were saying we had to get her to open up soon because the not knowing was annoying?”
Nika turned away. “Yeah, but…”
Eva blushed. “Well, yeah. But, listen, Sacha, we really are dying to know why you kept this sweet peanut a secret. But if you’re not comfortable talking to us about it, please don’t feel obligated. We’ll understand.”
Even though her tone was light, Sacha could see it was more than curiosity that had Eva asking after her cousin’s daughter. Sacha was pretty sure there was a protective element to the inquiry. As she glanced at the door, wishing Alekzander would come prowling in, Sydney surprised Sacha by sharing first.
“You probably think I’m obnoxious the way I’ve been acting so familiar with you. I’m not really. It’s just that I feel a connection because, um, our stories are so similar. You know?” She flashed her pearly smile and looked as uncomfortable as Sacha had ever seen her. “I, uh, understand what you went through better than you think.” She picked out a strip of cucumber peel that went in with the slices Sacha had just tossed in the bowl. That drew Sacha’s eye to her lovely manicure, and the even lovelier diamond on her ring finger.
As Sydney continued to talk, she used one of Sacha’s tricks and hid behind her hair as she finished preparing her fruit tray. “Andrew has never known his father. The last time I spoke to Colin, I was seventeen and standing on his front stoop, humiliated, scared, and furious because he was shoving money at me to have an abortion. Your dad tried messing with my head about that, by the way,” she said to Eva. “Used his experience with you to plant the seed that I might have made a mistake keeping Andrew away from his father. It got to me, and—Maksim would probably kill me if he knew—but I got on one of his computers just to see where Colin had ended up. I’m proud to say my instincts were dead-on. Six years ago, a thrice divorced Colin was charged with embezzlement and sentenced to four years in prison and one-year house arrest. Apparently, he didn’t understand that house arrest also meant he wasn’t allowed to leave the country, because he was caught on a fishing boat headed for Japan, carrying enough cash to solve the mystery as to where the embezzled funds had ended up. He won’t be out again for a few years.”
She went to the fridge to get a watermelon, and Sacha was almost positive her lavender and white yoga sweats had to be a child’s large. A quick glance at a very tight butt had Sacha vowing to take Lekzi on longer walks. Maybe she could start running with Alekzander in the mornings.
Sydney nodded at Nika and Eva, who’d both stopped what they were doing to stare at her. “They’re looking at me like that because I’m not one to air my personal business.”
“She isn’t,” Nika confirmed.
“It’s true,” Eva seconded. “We’re thinking because the guys are being so tight-lipped, they must be in protect-mode. Alek must have been a real dick. Am I right?”
Sacha laughed and brought the knife and cutting board to the sink where she rinsed her hands. “Yes. He was a dick,” she agreed as she tore off some paper towel. After tossing it, she went and picked Lekzi up to gently bob her on her hip, as was her habit. She hated to use the baby as a shield, but she knew she was. “But I now understand why.”
“What did he do?” Nika asked with a wary frown.
Because Alekzander had told her a little about the beautiful redhead’s violent history, Sacha gave in and offered them the short version of the worst moment of her life. If only to reassure Nika it wasn’t anything close to the horror she’d been through at the hands of her deceased husband. The girls’ expressions of dismay were a comfort.
“Holy shit balls.” Nika dropped the silverware on the table and walked around shaking her hands out. “I would have died. Holy shit, Sacha. One of the most amazing moments of your life…ruined. So unfair how men can do that to us, just like that.” She snapped her fingers. “How did you find the strength to walk out of there? I’m afraid I wouldn’t have been so classy.” She gave Eva a wide-eyed look. “Can you imagine what I would have done? Oh, no,” she laughed, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t have walked away. Maybe at one time, but not now.”
“I have a feeling you’d have channeled your inner Caleb,” Eva said before explaining, “That’s her brother. He’s a big teddy bear bad-ass with a nasty temper and a protective streak that stretches from here to Seattle.”
Nika looked thoughtful and a little ill as she began twisting the bottom on her bright hair. “No. I’m pretty sure I’d have taken it further. If I walked in on Vincente and some woman, I wouldn’t channel my brother. I’d channel my Reaper and totally wreck the bitch. And him? Oh, God. After I gathered the pieces of my heart, it would get ugly.” Sydney’s snicker had Nika pretending to hand the mic off to her. “What would you do?”
Sydney put the knife down and folded her hands on the counter as she tapped her tongue on the inside of her top teeth. When she reached over to take the imaginary microphone, she gave them a sly smile edged with something deliciously vindictive. “I’d take Jerome and his cousin—they’re two of my meanest bouncers at the club,” she said to Sacha. “I’d take them to an unknown location and film the dirtiest BBC porn ever made. Then I’d program it to play on a loop on every one of Russia’s computer screens. Oh, and it would be in HD. Oh! Oh! And the volume would be locked on ten.” She figuratively dropped the mic and rocked back on her heels, looking smug. “You?” she asked Eva.
Sacha was surprised crickets didn’t chirp when they all just stared at her.
Sydney’s smile fell. “What? Too much? I wouldn’t actually have the nerve to do it. We’re talking hypothetical, hit-them-where-it-hurts, right?”
Nika leaned across the island with her hand held up for a high five. “You’re nasty. If it ever happens, I’m calling you.”
Eva sat back in her chair, a hand on her belly, her expression sheepish. “If I caught Gabriel with another woman, after I died, I’d wimp out and call my dad.”
It was Sacha’s turn to circle around Nika and bend. Holding Lekzi’s hand up for a high-five from the Pakhan’s daughter, and in all seriousness, she declared, “You win.”
They all laughed, even the baby.
“Did we really just hear that shit?”
Maksim’s question caused the feminine humor surrounding them to run screaming from the room.
Standing under the archway was a wall of bristling testosterone made up of Maksim, Alekzander, Vincente, Gabriel, and Vasily. All but the older Russian looked put out. He was chuckling as he passed by the others.
“If you boys think a man is the only one capable of harboring violent or vengeful tendencies where their partner is concerned, you need to take the blinders off.” When he reached Eva, he stood behind her chair and rested his hands on her shoulders. When together, the resemblance between them was striking. “And there’s nothing wimpy about calling on your father when you need someone’s ass kicked. It would be my pleasure to have your back, precious.”
He offered the assurance with a mischievous wink aimed at Gabriel.
TWENTY-FIVE
As everyone got comfortable, some around the table that would seat fifteen with no trouble, others at the island, a few standing, Alek watched Sacha out of the corner of his eye. She was nibbling on her lip as she eyed the men interacting with their women.
He wasn’t particularly thrilled about the topic of the girls’ conversation, but he wasn’t bothered by it. Maks, on the other hand, had a look in his eye that was putting a bright pink color in Sydney’s cheeks that hadn’t been there before. Vincente was looking down at Nika as she talked to him while twisting the ends of his hair around her pinkie. He would flash a grin every few seconds as if what she was saying was entertaining him. Gabriel was standing behind his wife, his hand resting on her nape, his jaws full of a roast beef sandwich Eva had just given him.
Vasily had moved to the back of the room and was once again on his phone. This past week, he’d been worse than Maks with that fucking cell.
Af
ter the shooting at Sergei’s house, where they’d lost one man, things had been eerily quiet. Quiet was unsettling because it meant Sergei was either planning, or waiting for a time to strike, and since they had no idea which way he would come at them this time, tensions were at an all-time high.
Even days later, Alek was still working to get his head around the fact that it was his cousin who’d done this to them. He didn’t want to believe it, but there was no way to deny it. A man they’d loved and trusted like a brother had thrown those sacred offerings back in their faces.
The worst part was…
Sacha glanced at him and a little smile formed on her face.
The worst part was, Alek understood why his cousin had gone off the deep end. He understood it. He sympathized. He felt sorry and wished like hell he could have done something to comfort the man.
But he did not condone Sergei’s methods for dealing with his pain, and despite the blood they shared, that would have to be addressed in the proper way.
He dropped the knowledge for now and took a few steps back to intercept Sacha on her way to the table. “Interesting talk with the girls?” he murmured.
“I am sorry.” She kept her voice just as quiet. “I was put in a spot and could not refuse to share without appearing rude.”
“Ah.”
She glanced up at him from under her long lashes. “Oh, no.” She made a mou with her soft lips. “Could you be upset because I have tarnished your spotless reputation with the ladies?”
Man, he loved that playful note in her voice. He dropped his head down and spoke to his daughter in Russian. “Your mother is getting something of a mouth on her, Lekzi. Now, I don’t mind when it’s my mouth, but anything else sort of bugs me.” He made a quiet click sound and screwed up one side of his face as though he felt bad for that. He didn’t. “Once you have her alone in your room later, maybe you can give her a tip on how to make up for tattling.” He reached over to grab a serviette so he could dab at the drool making his daughter’s chin shiny. She put her hands out and it was with such pleasure that he scooped her up and brought their hearts together. “You tell her if she’s at all into pleasing your papa, she’ll dig through the bottom drawer of her dresser, and won’t quit searching until she finds something sheer and gold that has the words push-up somewhere on the tag. That’s all. Very simple.”
Ultimate Vengeance (Wanted Men Book 4) Page 28